Swollen streams causing headaches for drivers

Walworth County appeared to be slowly sinking in some areas Monday as heavy weekend rains found nowhere to go.

Several intersections in Lake Geneva were underwater as the White River overflowed its banks. Police re-directed traffic around the flooded areas.

Near Delavan, Turtle Creek was also swollen, rising above low lying country over passes.

Flooding was more severe in southwestern Wisconsin where hundreds of homes have flooded and forced homeowners to evacuate on short notice.

There were no reports of injuries. The hardest hit areas were in Crawford, Grant, La Crosse, Richland and Vernon counties, said Wisconsin Emergency Management spokeswoman Lori Getter.

In the Crawford County communities of Gays Mills and Soldier Grove, each with about 600 to 640 residents, a total of more than 200 homes were flooded, Getter said. Some houses had water 4 feet deep, said Donna Gilson, a spokeswoman at emergency management's Madison headquarters.

Water from a roadside drainageway has risen to the edge of Highway 14 at the intersection of Emerald Grove Road east of Janesville. Heavy rains, with more on the way, have caused headaches for many area residents.

The Wisconsin National Guard armories in Richland Center and Viroqua were opened, and its staff was assessing what it could do to help.

In Rock County, farmers in July "couldn't buy rain," said Randy Thompson of the UW-Extension office.

But like anything, "you can have too much of a good thing."

Janesville has gotten a record 14.7 inches of rain this month so far, according to Janesville Gazette weather records.

And there's still more to come.

According to the National Weather Service in Sullivan, there's a 40 to 60 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms every day through Friday.